Sheriff’s office nabs four-state award

By ANDREW MCGINN
a.mcginn@beeherald.com

In little more than a year on the job, local K-9 Leo has sniffed out more than 14 pounds of marijuana and more than four ounces of meth.

The 3-year-old German Shepherd is now showing that he also has a nose for awards that are typically out of reach for a small county sheriff’s office.

Leo and his handler, Greene County Chief Deputy Jack Williams, were honored this month with a four-state award from the United States Police Canine Association for the top narcotics bust during the first half of 2014.

“Ninety-nine percent of the time, these awards go to the interstate K-9s,” Williams said last week, “where they find hundreds of pounds of drugs and millions of dollars in cash.

“This year, it just happened to be a small county dog that won it.”

Region 21 of the USPCA — made up of law enforcement agencies in Iowa, Minnesota and both Dakotas — saw fit to honor Leo and Williams with the 2014 Narcotics Case of the First Half award for the way they intercepted six pounds of marijuana that January.

“I didn’t do much,” Williams conceded. “He did it all.”

At the time, Leo had been on the job for just two weeks.

It all began when the U.S. Postal Service in Des Moines notified the Greene County Sheriff’s Office that it had detected six pounds of pot in a package from Texas intended for a residence in Scranton.

“It’s just luck of the draw,” Williams said. “They don’t X-ray every package.”

Williams said they went ahead and let the delivery proceed, but with a slight change — instead of being delivered to the residence, it would instead have to be picked up at the Scranton post office.

Law enforcement allowed the package to be picked up, then made a traffic stop for speeding on old U.S. 30.

When Williams asked the driver if she had any narcotics in the car, she replied no.

“She said it pretty believably,” Williams said.

“She didn’t have a clue what she had,” he added.

She wasn’t charged.

It’s common practice, Williams said, for people to use random addresses for deliveries of drugs. When the package is dropped off outside the residence, the real recipient generally swoops in and takes off with it, he said.

In this case, the intended recipient was Daniel Walker, of Perry.

Law enforcement agencies arranged for Walker to pick up his package at the Casey’s General Store on Lincoln Way in Jefferson.

He came, reportedly took the package from an Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement agent and left — and then was stopped for speeding near the Jefferson golf course.

Walker eventually was convicted for possession with intent to deliver, a felony, according to Williams.

Leo had indicated the package was in Walker’s trunk.

“We’re just a good team,” Williams said.